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Drought in Europe — July 2022: nearly half of EU territory is at risk
* The Commission’s Joint Research Centre published on 18 July its report entitled ‘Drought in Europe — July 2022’, which presents an assessment of the drought situation in Europe, building on the work of the European Drought Observatory.
Analysis of the evolution and impact of prolonged drought in the EU shows that a worrying part of the territory is currently exposed to drought at levels of warning (46 % of the EU) and alert (11 % of the EU), associated with a shortage of soil moisture causing stress on plants.
Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth said: “Climate change increases the risk of severe drought and wildfires around the world. The Joint Research Centre puts science and technology at the service of monitoring climate change. Through this report, we better understand the situation in order to protect our forests, crops and waters.” Water and heat stress leads to a decrease in crop yield compared to previous negative forecasts for cereals and other crops.
France, Romania, Spain, Portugal and Italy are likely to face this decline in crop yields. To a certain extent, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia are also affected. In Italy, the Pad basin has the highest level of drought severity.
Severe drought was declared in five regions of Italy and insufficient water available led to several restrictions on use in municipalities. Similar measures to limit water use have also been taken in France.